On Friday, October 16, 2015 at 8:16:07 AM UTC+3, wrote:
"Winch launch will never drop the rope anywhere except right in front of the winch unless the rope breaks"

Really? Well I guess I had better get cracking on getting restitution from BC Hydro about those three times a winch cable allegedly dropped across the HV power lines since I now have it on good authority that those incidents never happened.

I guess it depends on a certain level of skill from the operator :-)

At my local winch site, it's not uncommon in a crosswind with a student pilot to see the glider and cable crossing above a row of trees and even the adjacent river. But the parachute still ends up hitting the ground on the field and 50 meters from the winch. Unless the rope breaks. Then you can have fun.